BUSINESS establishments that illegally use Halal logos will be held responsible, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.
With the strengthened call for Muslim-friendly business establishments, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said they will start the monitoring of businesses that illegally use Halal logo without proper permission.
“Of course we will have them closed – anything illegal reported to us. We will have the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau to include this aspect, this illegal use of Halal certification as grounds for closure,” he said on the sidelines of the Philippine National Halal press conference held last Wednesday, May 2 at Marco Polo Hotel.
At present, the DTI, together with the other members of the Halal board, is finalizing the guidelines to identify the so-called use of Halal logos among many other concerns relating to the industry. Lopez said they acknowledge the current efforts of concerned agencies as initiative to development the awareness and practice of Halal system.
“For now, we do not require the establishments to really be Halal certified but what we’re saying is that we are going to strengthen the encouragement to have their products certified because it means also greater market potential for them. But those that are not Halal are not really prohibited. We need Halal for the Muslim market but we’re also saying that we will promote this, too, for non-Muslim because it is good for everyone,” Lopez said.
As DTI is very bullish on monitoring the market prices of basic commodities, he said they will also include the monitoring of Halal products in supermarkets as well. So far, no monitoring has been made yet for these types of business establishments.
Also with the increased awareness and Halal consciousness, Lopez said they are coming up with a Halal roadmap which will encourage processors to have Halal certifications as a means to address the Halal market. The roadmap has yet to have discussed the incentives and other benefits and is still being currently finalized. (JPA)